Morning Ritual: Five Yogic Habits for a Stress-Free Day

Sleepy Kid in the Morning Sunbeams

I am a big advocate of peaceful mornings.  When we start our day with peace, we create an opportunity for a stress-free day.  Here are five yogic habits that might just help you create a peaceful morning rhythm.  

1.)  Rise and shine.  Begin your day with the cool earth-energy that lingers before daybreak. Savor this stillness.  Prepare to be happy and shine.

2.)  Take it slow. Instead of hitting the floor running, take a few minutes to wake up.  Sit up, take a few deep breaths, and set an intention for a peaceful day.  Consider saying a verse like this ancient Indian mantra: "On the tip of my fingers is prosperity and abundance (goddess Lakshmi); in the middle of my hand is eloquence and learning (goddess Saraswati); at the base of my hand is divine power (goddess Gauri).  In the morning, a vision of energy in my hands." 

3.)  Cleanse.  Instead of racing (or schlepping) out to the coffee maker, consider the advice of ancient yogis, step into the bathroom, and say goodbye to yesterday.  Empty your bowels, brush, floss, and scrape that fuzzy tongue.  Ayurveda interprets tongue-fuzz as a sign of undigested toxins lurking in the digestive tract.  Unless we scrape, it's reabsorbed while eating or drinking.  Next, it's time for a cool shower.  Too much steam makes us sleepy -- a cool shower wakes up the body.

4.) Meditate.  Oodles of evidence now exists in support of the benefits of meditation.  Some of the health benefits include stress reduction, better sleep, lower blood pressure, an increased sense of well-being, and increased neuroplasticity.  To begin, borrow a pillow from your couch, put your tush on the cushion, and breathe.  It's that simple.  Just sit for a few minutes each morning and focus on your breath instead of your thoughts.  For instruction on mindfulness meditation, click here.  For instruction on Zen practice, click here.

5.) Step Outside.  Take a few minutes each morning to connect with nature.  Step into your garden or onto your patio and absorb some of the cool, new day.  Stand in Mountain Pose for a few minutes with your feet rooting down into the earth.  Notice the color of the sunlight and the sensation of morning air in your lungs.  Feel the freshness of the hour.  Instead of plopping them in front of the tube, invite your kids to join you outside.  Take just one breath together, smile, then quietly say, “Good morning, world!” Take this stillness into your day.

A few small changes in your routine might just make a big difference.  Beginning your day with peace in your heart is certainly a step in the right direction.  As Patanjali, compiler of the Yoga Sutras, writes, “Peace can be reached through meditation on the knowledge which dreams give.  Peace can also be reached through concentration upon that which is dearest to the heart.”

The Earth in Us

Our Earth Week began with a day-trip to the ocean on the Thursday before Earth Day.  In the days prior, my morning meditation had been infused with a new sense of devotion, of love for the feminine, life giving, creative energies of Earth.  At the same time, a dear friend from out-of-state came for a visit, and we met at The Ren Brown Collection Gallery in Bodega Bay for Mayumi Oda's Feminine Buddhas exhibit.  It wasn't until we returned home that night that I realized the Sanskrit word for goddess is "devi" and it was probably no coincidence that I'd been feeling an opening in my heart, a sense of dev-otion to the feminine, leading up to our trip to the ocean.  

Friday was a beautiful morning so we hopped in the golf cart and headed out for breakfast.  Along the way, we noticed that the water at the lake was perfectly still; bright and blue glowing glass.  We pulled into the marina to watch the sky reflecting on the water.  Just then, six goslings came waddling to the edge of the lake with mama and papa close by their sides.

The morning was so still, so calm, that we came back and enjoyed breakfast picnic-style by the water.  By then the goslings had gone so we set up camp at a nearby lakeside park.  After breakfast, it was time for a little yoga with a sequence we call Earth-Body link.  The sun moved overhead and the morning gave way to afternoon.  It was time to hit the books.  We cruised back home but it was too late.  We'd been bit by the outside bug.  

"Mama, I want to go back to Little Beach."


I couldn't have agreed more.  So we packed up our school supplies and went back to the little lakeside park.  This was the beginning of a new Om School tradition that we're keeping alive: Outdoor Fridays.  

On Sunday, we continued our Earth Week with family a trip to the walking trails and botanical gardens at Skyline Wilderness Park.  After a little picnic lunch, we enjoyed learning about the trees and wildflowers native to our area.  Skyline is an amazing park with picnic grounds, a disc golf course, an archery range, a social center, tent, RV and horse camping, a barn and arena for equestrian use and, of course, the amazing native plant garden filled with beautiful old trees, redwoods, cottonwoods, oaks, and flowering jewels like wild lilac and dogwood.  Our favorite is a two-hundred year old Valley Oak... in her presence, time slows down and all worries fade.

Monday, we took school outside again for some sacred garden time and began our studies with Chapter 39, Protecting the Earth, from my favorite book, Thich Nhat Hanh's, Touching the Earth.  Here, the Zen Master asks us to let the mountains and the rivers be our witness as we promise to protect the earth and "transform garbage into flowers" and produce the energy of understanding and love.  We also read chapter 21, Earth, from Starhawk's, Circle Round and learned abot Gaia, the ancient Greek goddess whose name means, "Earth" and discussed the interdependence of all life.  Next, it was time for more traditional academics including writing complete sentences using proper punctuation and spelling.  Then, A. asked if we could hike around the land near our house pick up garbage.  It seems that all of our dirt loving and goddess worshiping is paying off! 

Tuesday the rain came and we stayed inside for our studies.  We put our new words on the board (up, us, under, until, upon, use, umbrella, unicorn, and unite), learned about the prefix "uni," and read chapter 39, Oneness with the Earth, from Thich Nhat Hanh's Touching the Earth in which Thay says, "I see everywhere the four elements of earth, water, fire, and air, and how they interrelate with everything and inter-are in me.  I shall touch the earth and remain close to the earth to see that I am one with Mother Earth; I am one with the sunlight, the rivers, the lakes, the ocean, and the clouds in the sky."  We also read "Growing: a Story" by Diane Baker and followed the life of a tomato seed from planting to blooming to becoming a living part of a little girl's body.

On Wednesday, we enjoyed a little extra mindfulness practice in our morning circle and sat, eyes closed, listening for outside sounds.  We heard the wind, the leaves in the trees, and a number of different birds.  Then, with our minds focused and still, we hit the books and the piano.  A. learned to play a new song (a difficult one with alternating hands and both melodic and harmonic intervals).  She read, The Maple Tree -- a story from the Oak Meadow Kindergarten syllabus (intended for the parent to read the child!), finished two new math worksheets with sums through 18 and rounding numbers to the nearest hundred, and made a pretty little Earth Collage.  

Later we read chapter 41 from Touching the Earth, The Earth as a Solid Place of Refuge and learned the story of Buddha facing the Mara under the Bodhi tree.  As Buddha sat in meditation reaching enlightenment, Mara appears as a demon and tells Buddha that he is declaring enlightenment for himself and earth as his realm. He points to his legions saying, "What I say is true. These are my witnesses. Who will believe that you speak the truth? Who will be your witness?" Undisturbed in his meditation, Buddha reached down and touched the earth.  I love this story and think it is a beautiful illustration of taking refuge in the earth -- and of earth as a place of solidity and acceptance.

Thursday was Earth Day proper and, after making offerings of wildflowers and seashells from our beach day to the earth goddess  Gaia, we rallied the local troops for a clean-up day at the creek.  Seeing these little smiling faces engaged in service made my heart sing.  When we get our kids involved young, they learn that honoring the earth is as essential as brushing their teeth.  (Ignore either and they'll go away.)  After the work was done, the kids splashed around a bit and we released rosemary, with wishes for the earth, downstream.  

Rosemary is the herb of remembrance, birth, and rebirth.  The name rosemary, which comes from the Latin, meaning "dew of the sea," hails back to its ancient origins. For centuries, it has been a symbol of friendship and hundreds of years ago it was dipped in gold, tied with a ribbon, and given as a keepsake at weddings. (from: http://www.sallybernstein.com/food/columns/gilbert/parsley_sage.htm)   I hope the kids will remember this loving gesture.  We are the newcomers to this community and I feel honored that such wonderful mamas have welcomed us into their fold and shared this special day with us. 

On Friday, we came full circle -- back to our little lakeside spot for a spelling test and a math test.  A. spelled all of her words correctly and has learned a number of little tricks and clues for remembering math facts.  We read, The Magical Seed by Lawrence Williams from the Oak Meadow Kindergarten syllabus.  This is a sweet short story that illustrates the cyclical journey of a seed, from earth to apple tree, and back to earth again... the same journey each of us makes in our lifetime.  

The great Zen Master Dogen wrote, "The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass."  They're also reflected in the still morning waters of lakes and streams and in the wide, bright eyes of our children.  When we see that the four elements of the cosmos are the same elements in our body, we learn to honor both.  

By taking time to notice the little things, to see the hidden connections, to see the whole earth and the entire cosmos in ourselves, we create space in our heart for devotion... for real reverence for this beautiful blue and green earth that is our mother and our home... that is the one thing we all have in common.  By connecting with the earth, we see where we come from and to where we are going.  By touching the earth, we can release our fears and worries, take refuge in her solidity, and discover a lightness of our spirit that affords real freedom.  

Deep peace to all.

Beneath the Surface

Our February thematic unit, Life Beneath the Surface, is under way. We're honoring the halfway point through winter by remembering that underneath earth's barren surface, life is preparing to be born.  

Yesterday, we created a new yoga flow where we plough the earth preparing the soil, plant ourselves like little seeds, and, with sunshine and rain, grow into tall, tall trees.  The sequence is demonstrated below.

Throughout the month, we'll hear stories about planting our intentions, watering the seeds in our consciousness that help foster compassion, and how our minds are like a garden where every kind of seed is planted (seeds of  happiness, peace, anger, and fear). The quality of life, as Thich Nhat Hanh writes in Understanding our Mind, depends on the quality of the seeds. By learning how to water seeds of joy, understanding, love, and compassion can flower.

 

First, in pough pose, we prepare the soil.  Then, with the ground awakened, the seed is planted (child's pose) and nestled snugly in the soft soil.  With sunshine and rain the seed begins to stir, then sprout up from the seemingly barren surface. The little sprout's roots dig deep into the solid earth (mountain pose).  With blessings (prayer pose) the little sprout grows and grows (tree pose 1) and grows (tree pose 2).

Some highlights from our letter P week:

• Peaceful Piggy Meditation by Kerry Lee MacLean in which two piggies balance stressful, hectic lives with regular meditation
• Poetry Soup -- a night of candlelight and classic children's poetry while making soup with veggies from our certified organic CSA, Riverdog Farm 
• Punxsutawney Phil and a lesson on the origin of Groundhog Day (see: Celebrating Candlemas - School of the Seasons)
  
• Plough Pose and Prayer Pose
  
• Puppet Theatre
• Piano Practice
  
• Playtime with Anchor Stone blocks
• Letter P Scavenger Hunt (we found persimmon, pine and plum trees, puppies, poles, and people).
• Still planned is painting with Pablo Picasso, potting plants, and planting peas.  

Anchor Stones were designed by Friedrich Fröbel, the creator of the kindergarten system. They are made of natural stone so precisely cut and polished that they fit together perfectly.

P is for Peace

February first marks the half-way point through winter and with a burst of sunbeams midweek, we felt the first stirrings of spring.  The big, blue sky was too great a temptation, so we took our classroom outside. 

We found a cozy spot nestled in the trees by a little creek and used a tree stump as a desk.  Since we're working on the letter P, I thought it was a good time for Thich Naht Hahn's Pebble Meditation. 

P is for peace, pebble, pocket, and practice.  If you're not familiar with the pebble meditation, check out this video beautifully presented by Plum Village brother Thay Phap Huu. 

We began by finding four pebbles near the water.  Then we sat down and took a few centering breaths.  The first pebble represents a flower.  I got us started by saying, "Breathing in, I am the flower.  Breathing out, I feel..." and let Amelie express how a flower feels.  She said, "pretty."  We repeated "flower, pretty" a few times taking care to breathe in that pre-Spring air, then we drew a pretty flower.  "I am a pretty flower," Amelie smiled and wrote the words, "flower" and "pretty" on her picture.  Then we moved our first pebbles to our right side.

The second pebble represents a mountain. I read from the mindfulkids pebble mediation cards: "Mountain represents solidity, stability.  There is a mountain within yourself because when you practice sitting and walking, you can develop the capacity of being solid, stable."  Then we said, “Breathing in, I see myself as a mountain.  Breathing out, I feel solid.  Mountain.  Solid.” After drawing a picture of a mountain and writing the words, "mountain" and "solid" on her picture, we moved our second pebbles to our right side.

The third pebble represents water.  Water can reflect the sky, the clouds, and the mountains.  Reading from the pebble meditation cards, I said: "Still water is within you. When the water in you is still, you are calm, you are serene. You see things clearly as they are. You do not distort things. You do not have wrong perceptions. It is wonderful. Breathing in, I see myself as still water.”  Together we said, "water, still" a few times and sat still just enjoying breathing together.  Then Amelie drew a picture of still water and moved the third pebble to her right side.

The fourth pebble represents space.  This one was a little more difficult to grasp.  I explained that space is just the big, open sky above us and asked Amelie what she thinks it would feel like to be the sky.  She said, "Like a bird flying."  I think she was spot on.  Space is openness and freedom.  When we have spaciousness within us, we are free.  

I read, "People without space around them cannot be happy. Be like the moon traveling in the beautiful sky. It has a lot of space. Freedom is what we want, and space is inside. We have to touch the space inside to be free. Without freedom, no one can be truly happy."  Amelie drew a bird flying in a big blue sky and then we said, “Breathing in, I see myself as space. Breathing out, I feel free.”  After breathing in the cool afternoon sky, we moved the fourth pebble to our right side, laid back on our blankets, and smiled at the sky.   

"If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. If we really know how to live, what better way to start the day than with a smile? Our smile affirms our awareness and determination to live in peace and joy. The source of a true smile is an awakened mind." - Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Because the sunshine was too beautiful to resist, we decided to take this lesson block slow and extend it another week.  Stay tuned for more about our P words from the Fry's 300 Instant Sight Words: put, people, play, please, present, pretty, pair, part.  We'll be practicing peace in every step.

Music, Math, & a Wise Heart

Today was a math and music day so I set my mind to seeing numbers everywhere this morning.  In the process, a Social Studies lesson cropped up organically and reminded me that real wisdom is greater than knowledge.  

This week our Riverdog Farm veggie box contained about ten mandarin oranges. I noticed this morning that they were beginning to look mushy so we started the day with math.  First we counted the oranges -- ten.  Then I sliced them each in half -- twenty.  Only six halves fit on our cutting board and this created a great illustration of the number six as 3+3 and 3x2.  I juiced and Amelie handed the halves to me... this is subtraction.  Six pieces minus one piece equals five pieces. 

To a young one, making juice by hand demonstrates the amount of labor that goes into bringing just one glass to the table.  As we were juicing, I was reminded of a passage from Touching the Earth by Thich Nhat Hanh and our Social Studies lesson began.

"Looking into my bowl of rice, I see clearly that this is the gift of the earth and the sky.  I see the rice field, the vegetable garden, the sunshine, rain, manure, and the hard work of the farmer.  I see the beautiful fields of golden wheat, the one who reaps the harvest, who threshes the grain, who makes the bread.  I see the beans sown in the earth becoming the beanstalk.  I see the apple orchard, the plum orchard, the tomato garden, and the workers who are cultivating the plants.  I see the bees and butterflies going from flower to flower collecting pollen to make sweet honey for me to eat.  I can see that every element of the cosmos has contributed to making this apple or this plum that I am holding in my hand or this leaf of steamed vegetable that I am dipping into the soy sauce.  My heart is full of gratitude and happiness."

I asked Amelie to think about all of the work that went into bringing these oranges to us and we talked while we squeezed.  "Looking deeply into our golden orange juice, what do you see?"  "I see the the seed that grew into a tree!"

The world is full of people who have accumulated information; however, a person who thinks with their mind and heart in alignment is a gem and often a real asset to our global community. Integrating core subjects helps develop a wise heart and honors the whole child. This encourages our kids to honor themselves and the world around them.  Since Kindergarten is a time for developmental play, awe and wonder, the last thing we want to do is override the senses, over-pressure a young mind, or put to much emphasis on the intellectual process.  If a child is directed into academic thinking too often and too soon, we risk getting them stuck up there in their head. 

One way we keep it fresh and fun is by making music.  Piano is a regular part of our curriculum and the benefits of music on the mind and body have been recognized since the days of the great Greek philosophers. Plato said music “gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything.” Visual and performing arts have a way of tapping into that part of us that is more than mind and, at the same time, music begins with math. 

According to the PBS Independent Lens documentary, Music from the Inside Out, A 1997 study by Rauscher and Shaw revealed that preschoolers who studied piano performed 34 percent better in spatial and temporal reasoning ability than preschoolers who spent the same amount of time learning to use computers. Preschoolers who took singing and keyboard lessons scored 80 percent higher on puzzle tests than students at the same preschool who did not have music lessons.

After Circle Time, we moved right into piano practice and got her mind working in sequences, repeating patterns, and thinking forwards and backwards.  Then it was time for her lesson and a little socialization with her music teacher.  The focus today was learning about intervals. Up and down the keys she went naming notes, repeating patterns, accessing both sides of her brain, and lighting up that part of us that is more than mind.

Back home, we reviewed the four processes of math with an art project and used watercolors to paint brightly colored sets of bugs.  This was great quality time together and we both enjoyed painting and then using colored markers to write out the math sentences. Three ladybugs plus three ladybugs plus three ladybugs equals nine ladybugs.  This emphasized what we'd done in the morning with our oranges.

After playtime and dinner it was time for cookie math.  Three rows of cookies with three cookies in each row equals nine cookies.  Add one more row and you've got three times four.  Our cookie math was another repetition of what we'd done this morning with oranges and before bed we added the finished product to her portfolio and reviewed the equations one more time. 

While the art supplies were out we returned to today's Social Studies lesson, Looking Deeply into the Orange Juice.  I asked Amelie to think back to this morning and draw all of the things she can see looking deeply.  She drew the tree with oranges, an orange falling from the tree, the veggie box they came in, the halved oranges, the compost bowl, a hand-squeezer, a half-full pitcher, and a glass with a straw.  She numbered the steps one through eight which told me that her math hat was still on and that she's still thinking in sequences.

Kids don't need to sit at a desk for hours memorizing math facts on a worksheet to become good at math.  Boring a child with written work isn't going to spark their curiosity in the subject and, from my experience, is likely to turn them away from it for good. Too often we praise dry academics and test scores over actual learning and overlook the inner-lives of our children.  When we include and integrate art and music with other core subjects, our kid's inner light turns on.  This nurtures both compassion and creativity rather than just intellect or memorization. 

I agree with Einstein.  Imagination is more important than knowledge... but greater than the imagination is the content of one's heart.  This can't be measured by standardized testing and it is the one thing most central to the continuation of a humane society.  Before we send our young learners out into the world, let's make sure they are ready.  The first step is honoring the whole child.